Leading off today: I had all sorts of grand plans for Monday, including working on my deck, paying some bills, getting an oil change and (oh, yeah) hanging out with the special young lady in my life.

   And then the NCAA went off and had another brain cramp. I suddenly found myself on the receiving end of a bunch of phone calls and e-mails, all of which seemed to begin with "Hey, the NCAA did something stupid again."

   Twelve hours later I'd seen and heard more than enough about the NCAA's latest affront to common sense. They threw a perfectly fine reporter out of an event that desperately needs publicity for violating a policy that may not have actually existed and certainly wasn't being enforced with any consistency.

   In other words, just another day at the NCAA. College sports' governing body was more interested in trying to protect ESPN's exclusive "broadcast" rights than in cooperating with the media outlets that generate infinitely more coverage and publicity for the sport.

   Brian Bennett of The Courier-Journal in Louisville, Ky., had his media credential revoked and was ordered to leave the press box during the NCAA baseball super-regional Sunday because of what the NCAA alleged was a violation of its policies prohibiting live Internet updates from its championships.

   Gene McArtor of the NCAA baseball committee confronted Bennett at the University of Louisville's Jim Patterson Stadium midway through the Louisville-Oklahoma State game. McArtor told him that blogging from a championship event "is against NCAA policies. We're revoking the credential and need to ask you to leave the stadium," the newspaper reported.

   The host school had circulated a memo from the NCAA before Friday's first super-regional game. It labeled blogs as a "live representation of the game" and said any blog containing action photos or game reports would be prohibited.

   "In essence, no blog entries are permitted between the first pitch and the final out of each game," the memo said.

   So, technically speaking, The Courier-Journal would not have been allowed to report on an injury suffered during the game. Or a coach being ejected for arguing a call. Or a helicopter carrying Warren Buffett, Anna Nicole Smith's ghost and Santa Claus landing on second base.

   Bennett had filed online reports from NCAA games at the Columbia (Mo.) Regional the previous weekend and did so from the first two games of the super-regional. A college official told the reporter before Sunday's game that he was violating NCAA policy by filing periodic reports for courier-journal.com.

   After consulting with his editors, Bennett filed 16

updates Sunday before he was booted.

   "It's a real question that we're being deprived of our right to report within the First Amendment from a public facility," Jon L. Fleischaker, the newspaper's attorney, told The Courier-Journal. "Once a player hits a home run, that's a fact. It's on TV. Everybody sees it. (The NCAA) can't copyright that fact. The blog wasn't a simulcast or a recreation of the game. It was an analysis."

   Courier-Journal editors were told by University of Louisville athletic staffers that it would jeopardize the school's chances of hosting another NCAA baseball event if they did not revoke Bennett's credential.

   "If that's true, that's nothing short of extortion and thuggery," executive editor Bennie L. Ivory said.

   Josh Centor, a blogger on the NCAA's official web site, chimed in on the issue on Monday and came across as a voice of reason. Which means his butt will be fired by the end of the week.

   "Bennett wasn’t drunk, rowdy or naked, instead getting the boot for his despicable blogging habit," Centor wrote.

   While acknowledging the need to honor broadcast contracts with ESPN and other outlets, Centor cut to the heart of the matter my pointing out that blogging hardly qualifies as live broadcasting.

   "I find all of this quite unnecessary," he said of the dust-up. "The world of media has changed and I think this policy makes my organization look arcane because journalists now publish their thoughts in real time on the Internet. I don’t know anybody in their right mind who would choose in-game commentary on a blog over a television broadcast, so I don’t see how there’s competition between our partners and independent bloggers who have received credentials."

   Like I said, Centor will certainly be told to clear out his desk soon.

   (For more on the issue, check out the ongoing thread on the Sportsjournalists.com forums.)

   Ithaca coach bumped by policy: Retired teacher Terry Habecker will not be back for a 35th season as boys soccer coach at Ithaca High, capping his record at 435-176-37.

   Ithaca City School District athletics director Bill Bryant told Habecker, who retired from teaching in 2004, on Monday he will not be retained as part of a school district policy that puts an emphasis on hiring district employees to coach.

   Bryant said no district employees applied for the boys' varsity soccer job the past two seasons, but there are two applicants this spring.

   Ithaca went 12-3-2 last fall. Habecker's teams earned five Section 4 championships.

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